Homo Deus: a brief History of Tomorrow

Sexuality  or  Donna  Haraway’s  ‘A  Cyborg  Manifesto’.
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 Yet  Christian  true-
believers  –  however  progressive  –  cannot  admit  to  drawing  their  ethics  from
Foucault  and  Haraway.  So  they  go  back  to  the  Bible,  to  St  Augustine  and  to
Martin  Luther,  and  make  a  very  thorough  search.  They  read  page  after  page
and  story  after  story  with  the  utmost  attention,  until  they  find  what  they  need:
some maxim, parable or ruling that if interpreted creatively enough means that
God blesses gay marriages and that women can be ordained to the priesthood.
They then pretend the idea originated in the Bible, when in fact it originated with
Foucault. The Bible is kept as a source of authority, even though it is no longer a
true source of inspiration.
That’s  why  traditional  religions  offer  no  real  alternative  to  liberalism.  Their
scriptures  don’t  have  anything  to  say  about  genetic  engineering  or  artificial
intelligence,  and  most  priests,  rabbis  and  muftis  don’t  understand  the  latest
breakthroughs in biology and computer science. For if you want to understand
these  breakthroughs,  you  don’t  have  much  choice  –  you  need  to  spend  time
reading scientific articles and conducting lab experiments instead of memorising
and debating ancient texts.
That  doesn’t  mean  liberalism  can  rest  on  its  laurels.  True,  it  has  won  the
humanist wars of religion, and as of 2016 it has no viable alternative. But its very
success may contain the seeds of its ruin. The triumphant liberal ideals are now
pushing humankind to reach for immortality, bliss and divinity. Egged on by the
allegedly  infallible  wishes  of  customers  and  voters,  scientists  and  engineers
devote more and more energies to these liberal projects. Yet what the scientists
are discovering and what the engineers are developing may unwittingly expose
both the inherent flaws in the liberal world view and the blindness of customers
and  voters.  When  genetic  engineering  and  artificial  intelligence  reveal  their  full
potential, liberalism, democracy and free markets might become as obsolete as
flint knives, tape cassettes, Islam and communism.
This book began by forecasting that in the twenty-first century, humans will try
to  attain  immortality,  bliss  and  divinity.  This  forecast  isn’t  very  original  or  far-
sighted.  It  simply  reflects  the  traditional  ideals  of  liberal  humanism.  Since
humanism has  long  sanctified  the  life,  the  emotions  and  the  desires  of  human
beings,  it’s  hardly  surprising  that  a  humanist  civilisation  will  want  to  maximise
human  lifespans,  human  happiness  and  human  power.  Yet  the  third  and  final
part  of  the  book  will  argue  that  attempting  to  realise  this  humanist  dream  will
undermine its very foundations, by unleashing new post-humanist technologies.
The  humanist  belief  in  feelings  has  enabled  us  to  benefit  from  the  fruits  of  the
modern covenant without paying its price. We don’t need any gods to limit our

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power and give us meaning – the free choices of customers and voters supply
us with all the meaning we require. What, then, will happen once we realise that
customers  and  voters  never  make  free  choices,  and  once  we  have  the
technology to calculate, design or outsmart their feelings? If the whole universe
is  pegged  to  the  human  experience,  what  will  happen  once  the  human
experience  becomes  just  another  designable  product,  no  different  in  essence
from any other item in the supermarket?

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Brains as computers – computers as brains. Artificial intelligence is now poised to surpass human
intelligence.
© VLADGRIN/Shutterstock.com.

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